Last week was all about making the most of running despite the conditions. And it looks like this coming week will be no different-we’re currently snowed in under at least a foot of snow and it’s still coming down. Since my treadmill is currently in storage I’ve had to take all my runs outside, including my tempo and speed workouts. It can be a little frustrating to try to run a tempo run in freshly fallen snow: the conditions are slippery, it’s most likely windy and your chances of hitting prescribed paces is pretty slim.

I’ve always believed that it is more beneficial to get out there and try to run a workout outside no matter what the conditions are. Even if you’re not nailing paces, the effort level is still there and you’re developing mental toughness as well. As the spring racing season gets closer, there will be ample opportunity to get out on clear roads and nail paces, but for now I’m OK with a tough tempo effort in sloshy snow.

Here’s how last weeks training stacked up.

Monday

Planned: Steady State run with 30 min @ 7:30 min/mi

Actual: Recovery Run. 45:11; 4.74 miles; 9:32 min/mi

The Pats won the Super Bowl. I stayed up waaaaaaaay to late, plus I was still sore from my 9 mile trail run on Sunday (my quads were trashed). So I made the decision to swap Monday and Tuesday’s workouts.

Tuesday

Planned: 45 min Recovery Run and 45 min Cross Training

Actual: 30 min Steady State and 45 min Cross Training

This was a challenging run. It snowed Tuesday, which made this run a challenge. I had on my StabilICER microspikes, which gave me plenty of traction, but sore legs and a lack of motivation meant my first two miles were slow: 7:42 and 7:42. I ran in strong winds two weeks ago and nailed my paces and so I didn’t feel like wind was an excuse. Mentally I just wasn’t there. So at the turn around point I stopped, gave myself a little pep talk and tried to change the negative narrative in my head. I was so focused on the less-than-ideal conditions being an excuse and wasn’t really giving myself a chance to overcome them-at least not mentally. So I started to turn every excuse into a positive phrase: “The wind was strong, but I still nailed the pace.” “My legs are tired, but they didn’t bother me.”

My miles on the way back were into the wind and even more challenging that the first two, but I was able to drop the pace a little 7:37 and 7:41. I still wouldn’t say that I nailed the pace, but I think I did win a bit of a mental battle.

Wednesday

Another sloppy morning in slushy snow. Decided to just give the max effort the best effort I could despite the condition. Microspikes again helped with traction.

Thursday

Planned: 30 min recovery run and 45 min cross training

Actual: 30:54; 3.34 miles; 9:15 min/mi

Another easy paced recovery run. Didn’t have time to get the cross training in after my run and then never got around to it later in the day. First time I’ve skipped scheduled cross training in a long time.

Friday

Planned: Tempo

Actual: Rest. I really felt like I needed a morning where I didn’t have to get up at 4:30am. So I asked my coach to swap Friday and Saturday’s schedule.

Saturday

Planned: Rest

Filming with Smartwool

Actual: Easy, shake out run filming with Smartwool. They came out to film the follow up to the initial filming they did when I was in Colorado. The weather seemed to work in our favor and gave us a wintery white backdrop to my early morning run. 31: 32; 3.40mi; 9:17 min/mi average pace.

The entire project video will be released sometime in March. It’s hard to know exactly what will make the cut, but this shot is pretty cool!

Video courtesy of Adam Weitzel

Sunday

Planned: Bradbury White Out 4 mile Snowshoe Race

Actual: I raced Bradbury as planned and it went relatively well. I was expecting deep powder and a really challenging course, but the single track was relatively well tamped down and the snowmobile trail portions had recently been groomed (the groomer was out there during the race). The single track wound through the woods and doubled back on itself quite a bit, there were so many small turns. I tried to keep my effort smooth and strong through the single track sections, but it was hard not to slow down with the soft powder.

Just before the halfway point the course had a turn around and I was able to see the lead pack and the first female, Leslie. She was running strong. I knew I wouldn’t catch her, but I at least wanted to close the gap a little.

Unfortunately right at the turn around point I noticed that my binding felt loose and swore that my foot was about to slide out. I debated for a while whether or not I should stop and tighten it, until finally I did. It turns out it really didn’t need to be tightened and I think the more I focused on it, the loser it probably felt. If I had shifted my focus and simply tried to run harder, I would have forgotten about the loose feeling of the biding and moved on because once I tightened the one that felt loose, the other binding started to feel loose and I stopped to tighten that one. Sometimes you have real equipment problems and sometimes I think the mind is looking for an excuse to take a break. I don’t think my snowshoe was in danger of slipping off and I probably would have made it to the finish just fine if I hadn’t stopped. Lesson learned.

Photo Credit: Maine Running Photos

I ran the last half of the race on my own, without another racer in sight in front or behind me. With about a mile left the course switched from snowmobile trail back to single track, looking at my paces after the race it looks like I hit a brick wall: I went from 8:00 min/mi pace to 12:00 min/mi. I knew we’d switch back to the snowmobile trail for the finish, but I wasn’t sure just when that would happen. I pushed through the last section of single track with as much effort as I could. After a half mile or so it came back out onto the snowmobile trail and was able to push the pace into the finish, crossing the line as the second female.

And of course there was hot soup and cider donuts at the finish (both were delicious) and I took a case of beer home as my prize!

This week is going to present more weather challenges, but I’ll be up for it!

-Sarah

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You’ve probably been asked this before. With two smallies I’m always trying to find time to run. Do you worry about running on your own in the very early morning when it’s dark and everyone else is in bed. I know there are safety precautions you can take eg tell a person where you are going and when you’ll be back, do a class in protecting yourself against an assault. Where I’m from we are not allowed to carry anything, pepper spray is illegal etc. I think I’d love to be a very early morning runner but safety issues put me off.

I do run early. We live in a relatively *safe* area (you never know). I’ve take a few self defense classes and I carry pepper spray and my phone on every single run. I also run in well-lit areas and there are enough houses around that I could dash into someones driveway and start yelling and I’m pretty sure someone would hear me. It is always a thought in my mind…less when the weather is bad though. I figure there are few people who will go out of there way to harm you when its snowing out or it’s 10 degrees. ha! There are personal alarms you can get as well if you can’t carry pepper spray.

Thanks for that ! I need to be less of a scaredy cat 🙂 the alarm is a good idea and as you say run near houses so that you can call out. Might try a few early runs nearer the spring to get used to it. It would definitely suit my life better than holding out till the hubby gets home from work.

The weather you are running in is crazy to me since it is still in the 70s here in FL. Hard to imagine being snowed in 🙂 You are doing awesome and I can’t wait to see your video. Also, I love your intense photo from Sunday. It wouldn’t be a race for you without one of those pics. LOL xo